NMG Christmas Bash

The Northern Michigan Geocaching Christmas Bash was today in Gaylord at B.C.'s Pizza. There were around 30 people there in spite of horrible traveling conditions. On the way over on M-72, Dick and I actually turned around at one point and headed back home. But the sky cleared a little, and the snow lightened, and so we turned around again and headed for Gaylord.

On the big hill just west of Kalkaska there was a terrible accident. We saw two vehicles which had been heavily damaged, more vehicles off on the side of the road, people running around the damaged cars. There was one police car there when we went past. As we went on toward Kalkaska, we saw 3 more police cars, 2 ambulances, and 2 fire department trucks heading for the accident. It was a little unnerving, but Dick remained unswerving. (Pun intended.)

The Bash was really a good time. It was fun to talk to other geo-cachers, and to meet old friends and lots of new ones. The pizza was great, and there was a nice salad bar. Everyone got gifts, exchanged signature items, took pictures, bought raffle tickets, and we all got souvenir mugs etched with the date of the party and the geo-caching logo. It reminded me of the type of favor you might get at a fraternity party.

The ride home was uneventful, though treacherous at times. We passed through rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain and I don't know what all. It took us about an hour and a half to get home, so the roads were better - because this morning it took us 2 and a half hours to get to Gaylord, counting turn around time.

Jim has arrived safely at Mother's from Saginaw, and we'll see him tomorrow.

This is Dick's version of our day:

We enjoyed much of the day, all except the driving. The National Weather Service in Grayling broadcast a Winter Storm Warning for the northwest lower peninsula ending with the following statement, "A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS." We waited until 10 AM to leave the house figuring that that would give the plows and traffic a chance to clear the roads. It took us an hour to travel 25 miles. We were in the blizzard that I said would foil our trip. When we saw that we were last in a line of 15 cars slipping and sliding along at 20 MPH we decided the GeoGods did not want us to attend event caches. We missed the last one because to damage to our cache mobile. Deciding we didn't want to mess up our new Forester, we turned back. As we headed for home with our tails between our legs, in less than 5 miles, the snow turned to rain and the roads were just wet and slushy and a plow was heading east. We discussed the situation and Geocaching won out over good sense. Turning around once more we pushed on past wrecks, 4 police cars, 2 ambulances, a rescue vehicle and a fire truck. It took us just under 3 hours to get to Gaylord and we both agree it was worth it. The food was good, the presents are neat and the mugs are fabulous. The companionship was the best of all. It was fun meeting folks from across the state and we are looking forward to seeing them and more at the Convergence in January. The drive home was a piece of cake. We saw nothing unusual. Of course one of us (the driver) had their eyes squeezed shut and the other was focused on the center of the lane we were in. Since the road was a two track in each direction, it was just like driving through the woods at 55. Once home, Nancy pried my hands from the wheel, led me into the house, put a drink in my hand and pointed me toward the computer. Thanks eb-ii and all the rest for a great day.

Outside Lights

Dick put up the outside lights today - it looks really nice. Christmas is such a pretty time of the year. The day was dark and gloomy but the lights make a big difference.

I made bean soup, sorted out pills, and put together the new ornament keeper.

We went to visit Mother - balanced the checkbook and answered some questions she had about Social Security, etc. She seems worried about everything when really it's hard for me to see what she has to worry about. But I tried to validate her feelings, and I think she felt better when we left. Jim is coming tomorrow to stay for a couple of days - his Christmas visit is always enjoyable.

Came home to nice, hot bean soup with lots of ham.

Up Goes the Tree

This morning we set up our first ever faux tree (pre-lighted). It went up fairly easily, it looks fine, and I'm sure it will be less of a mess than a real tree.

Then we went to Meijer to get ornament hooks, shelving, a can of soup, and a couple of other things. We ended up spending a pocketful of cash for all kinds of items, including three absolutely precious toys for Toys for Tots. I also found a great plastic box for storing ornaments. It was really a fun expedition.

Back home to decorate the tree. It took about 2 hours in all to get it just right. I also sorted out a lot of old, old things and threw them out. The boxes that some of those things were packed in were 30 years old. The tree looks good.

Shipping to Florida

Dick worked at the Agency this morning. Nothing too spectacular happened.

At home it was time to finish wrapping gifts for Florida, and time to begin writing Christmas cards.
I only got up to "K" in the Christmas cards.

I did get all of the Florida things finished, and when Dick got home he taped the boxes and we got them ready to mail. We also had to turn in some loan papers at Wares Brothers for the new car. So Dick loaded in all of the boxes, and off we went to town. Turning in the papers was easy. Standing in line at the Post Office was not quite so easy, but even though the line was very long, it did seem to move quickly, and everyone was in good spirits. We got everything shipped off to Florida, and I bought Christmas stamps, and now I feel like everything is downhill from here on until Christmas.

I think we'll work on putting up our new fake Christmas tree next weekend. I'm looking forward to it. It's all pre-lighted and everything. Another first.

We are planning a trip to Florida weekend after next - just a short visit - Thursday to Sunday maybe. Jana will be coming home Christmas Eve and staying until New Year's. I'm looking forward to a very mellow holiday.

I'm starting week 7 of my exercise program, and although it's moving along very slowly, I am making progress. Not great progress - just Nancy-type progress. Thank you Eric.

Here's Sharon!

As soon as I was up and dressed, I went to Glen's and did grocery shopping for the next few days. Dick was outside stacking firewood. When I got home, I put everything away and began preparing veggies for beef stew in the crockpot. I was almost finished when Dick came in the back door and said Look who I found!

And it was Sharon! We were really excited to see her. This was their annual cookie baking weekend - Barb, Sharon, Melissa and Shelly all got together and baked all day Saturday. Sharon said her car was loaded with cookies! We had about a 3 hour visit, and it was great to catch up on all the news from Lansing. I'm so glad she stopped in.

We went in to return the rental car and to have a visit with Mother and take out her trash. Mother seems very well, and very alert these days. We had a good visit. She's reading a good book and likes to talk about it. I think she's amazing.

Cookies!

Every Christmas the Trinity Lutheran Church has this terrific cookie sale. Usually we hit all of the cookies sales in town and really stock up for the holidays. But this year we're trying to cut back on the calories a little bit, so we only went to the Trinity sale, and only bought cookies for Mother. Well...Dick did pick out some yummies, and I got a sample of cookies baked with Splenda, but basically we went to get cookies for Mother. It was a dreary, dismal, rainy, cold day outside, but inside it was very bright and festive and full of beautiful cookies.

We delivered the cookies to Mother, and I think she was really thrilled to get them. I said now you will have something to offer visitors - and Mother said she would probably eat them all herself!

We went Christmas shopping in downtown TC - it was a little rainy and windy, but we had really good luck. We went to the Cherry Stop, a couple of T shirt stores, DeYoung's and Horizon Books. Traverse City really has a nice downtown these days. I haven't shopped at the mall yet this year - I've really done most of my shopping on the internet.

We have a new car

In the morning Dick worked at the Visitor Center - there were less than a dozen visitors! But luckily he took along a good book, and he also helped Kathee put up her winter display.

I was at home wrapping presents and anxiously waiting for Dick to get home so we could go pick up our new car!

The Credit Union cooperated fully, as usual. They have changed their name from Wayne Out County Teachers Credit Union to Michigan Education Credit Union. So it's not WOCTCU anymore - it's MECU. I'd say that's an improvement. We picked up the 2002 Subaru at Wares Brothers, and our salesman Jeff put on the plates from Dad's car and sent us on our way. Actually, Dick took the Subaru home, and I went to do some errands.

Thirlby Clinic has finally received some flu vaccine, and Dr. Burke had me on his magic list, so I went right over to the clinic and got my flu shot. Dick can't get one there because he is not a patient of the clinic. We'll have to keep checking with the Health Department. Dr. Burke will be spending Christmas in New York with his parents. He and his family are driving to Detroit and then flying to New York. That sounds like quite a production. He's really looking forward to it.

The next business was to take Mother's SS check to the bank. She seems fine.

Mary Barker called and wanted to go out to lunch, but there was really too much other stuff going on. The Barkers are leaving for the winter next week. Not sure yet what McLenithans are doing this year.

Holiday Party

Hooray Hooray! It's the Visitor Center Christmas Party for Volunteers Day! We always look forward to this splendid holiday event. It was at Reflections at the Waterfront, with a spectacular view of East Bay. The food was excellent as always - all kinds of hors d'oeuvres , live entertainment, great ambience, and good company. I mostly enjoyed the meatballs and the veggies - Dick mostly enjoyed the shrimp. We sat with Chuck and Carol - always good conversation there - I enjoyed everything very much. Dick got a chance to speak to the Deans, and we all got a hug from Kathee.

Sue Subaru

This has been an eventful day. We attended the scholarship luncheon at NMC's new Maritime Academy. It was fine - the food was only OK, but the dessert was great!

Then Dick did a little Christmas shopping and I wasn't allowed to go with him. He dropped me off at Horizon, and I had tea and read the paper.

Then we went to Wares Brothers and test drove a silver Subaru Forester, and we really loved it.
Tomorrow we're contacting the WOCTCU to work out the details, and we can pick it up sometime this week. It will replace Dad's Pontiac. It has a moon roof, a 6 disc CD player, heated seats, 4 doors, compass, thermometer, etc. It will be our #1 car, reserving Marco for pulling the boat and trailers. The Subaru should get much better gas mileage - it's only a 4 cylinder engine. So we have to give it a name...maybe Sue....maybe Scout (get it? Hiyo Silver! Get'em up Scout!)

Then we went Christmas shopping, and drove home in our trusty rental car.

Enterprise

Today we took poor sick Marco to The Collision Center on S. Airport Road. The nice man looked it over, the papers were faxed from the insurance company, and the verdict is that it will take 2 weeks. He noticed some damage that we hadn't noticed, and also that the car seemed out of alignment. There was some wheel damage that could have deflated the driver's side front tire. We were lucky to have made it home Friday. We drove over 50 miles with it like that.

We continued on the airport (the new terminal is spectacular) to rent a car. So now we have this little 4 door Dodge Neon, in a graphite color. It's fine. It rides well, it has good pick-up, but it has no bells and whistles. Not even power windows or door locks. The gear shifter is on the floor, so we keep washing the windshield with what should be the gear shifter.

Insurance does not cover the rental car, but we only have a $250 deductible for the body work, so that's not so bad.

I did the library thing for Mother, so she has a new stack of books to read. One of them is a memoir by Barbara Bush about the years following the White House years. I think Mother will really enjoy it. She said the spaghetti dinner from Meijer wasn't that good. We keep trying!
Her neighbor Donna across 10th street is getting a new roof.

Dick worked at the Agency this morning. The main thing was trying to get an Emergency Epic Application for this very needy couple in Lake City. The discouraging thing is that they're younger than we are!

Sally

Sally Sue Kurtz Lagerman has died. She owned the Cut and Curl Beauty Salon on Front Street. She was a very petite, lively 72 year old woman, friendly and hard-working. She has been Mother's hairdresser for about 30 years. Sally always treated Mother like a queen, and they liked to reminisce about the old days at Milliken's, and people that Mother worked with at the store. Mother is 24 years older than Sally was! I can't imagine what "sudden illness" she died of. She always seemed so full of life. Mother is distressed (no pun intended) and I know she will miss Sally very much. We last saw Sally on September 29th when Mother got a perm. In fact the post for Sept. 29th is called Cut and Curl.

We picked up a sympathy card for her to send to Cliff, Sally's husband. When Dad was sick, Cliff would sometimes pick Mother up and take her to the shop and then bring her back home. We also got a spaghetti meal from Meijer so she wouldn't have to worry about supper. Kind of a sad day.

Most Exciting Day After

No, we didn't go shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. We went caching. We started out to do some maintenance on our cache at Sharon. It turned out to be dry and didn't really need maintenance, but we did unload some geo-junk and reload it.
While we were there, we tried some nearby caches and had great success. We were really surprised at how much snow was on the ground in Kalkaska County.
While traveling slowly down a gravel section of Blue Lake Road, we hit an icy patch and spun off the road. So next week we'll be renting a car while ours is in the body shop. Thank goodness for insurance.
The damage is not too severe, and we were able to drive it home, but Dick had to crawl through my side to get out.

Happy Thanksgiving

It was a very quiet Thanksgiving here in Lake Woebegone. (Apologies to Garrison Keillor)
The turkey roasted really, really fast in the electric roaster - it was actually done in half the time. I was shocked. But it was yummy, and all 3 of us (count 'em, 3) enjoyed it.

Next to the River and in the woods,
To Mom and Dad's we won't go.
It's too far away, it would be a short stay,
And besides, there is no snow.

Next to the River and in the woods,
It's Grandmother, Dick and I.
Hooray for the fun! Is the pudding done?
Hooray for the low-carb pie!

Next to the River and in the woods,
Just we three with creaky knees,
A ho-hum day, no games to play,
And no one to pass the peas.
http://www.walkthroughlife.com/midis/christmas/overriver.htm

Marasco Ranch

Laurie and Chip found a great place to have Dylan's birthday party. The Marasco Ranch has farm animals and ponies to ride. They specialize in children's parties. Sounds much better than a jungle party at home! We shipped off our remaining bandanas from GenFest so everyone at Dylan's party can look like a farmer. These days, it's not just kids - the parents go and party too!

Dylaninvitation2004.jpg (0.03 MB)

Treadmill Tuesday, or The World's Longest Post

Although not a great achievement in the overall sphere of athletic endeavor, today was a great achievement for me! At 5:30 a.m., I walked for 15 uninterrupted minutes on the treadmill downstairs! WooWoo! I was supposed to do it yesterday, but I was afraid to try it, so today I just went down and did it and I didn't even have to rest. The key is to get up and do it right away before coffee or anything. This afternoon I'm to ride the stationary bike for 15 minutes - and that's easier for me.


Last Saturday, all of our kids were in California. Tom is always there, of course. Laurie was working with a 10 hour layover in L.A., and Jana was at a Media Conference at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel from Thursday to Sunday. CQ was nominated for 3 awards, and didn't win any - Jana thinks it's because they won last year!


Dylan has decided that for his birthday this year they'll have a party at home (instead of taking all of his friends to Disney World!) The theme will be jungle or rain forest or some such. When our kids were little, the theme was always cake and ice cream.


Dick has thought up an idea for a new cache. It's a mystery cache based on team animal mascots of Michigan High Schools. In order to figure our the coordinates of the cache, you have to figure out various mascots. It's not as complicated as it sounds. Sunday we went for a drive and found a good hiding spot for it, but it's not finished yet. This is Dick's rough draft:


This cache is dedicated to those nutty fans (Fan comes from Fanatic) who zealously follow Michigan High School sports. These are folks who attend the football playoff and basketball tournament games no matter who is playing. You will see them at regional and state meets for all sports from wrestling to softball and track. They are people who grab the paper or get online each Saturday morning to find the Friday night scores. For you who don’t know one, they are fonts of trivia about Michigan High School sports. They know the mascot of each school or town.

Who else could tell you that Kingsford are the Flivvers or Mt. Clemens the Battling Bathers? That Colon are the Magi, or Ishpeming the Hematites? They know about the Goodrich Martians, the Gwin Modeltowners and the Bessemer Speedboys. Some of them are coaches, some write about sports for the local paper and some are just obsessed with High School sports. For them this cache will be a piece of cake. For normal people you will have to find one and pick their brains, make some phone calls, send some emails or do some on-line research.

The listed coordinates are for the Traverse City District Library. The reference desk and computers are on the second floor.

The cache is an ammo can in the woods a short walk up the hill from a parking area that is alongside the road about 15 miles away. Once you’ve done the research this is a 1/2.5 (Because of the hill) stop and grab. The cache is winter friendly up to about 2 feet of snow cover.

Many of us went to schools whose team mascot represented the ferocity and courage of heroes of the past such as Spartans, Trojans, Titans, Gladiators, Warriors and the like. Others attended schools that chose to be represented by valiant, courageous and often dangerous creatures of the animal kingdom such as Tigers or Stags or Wolverines. These talismans that are used in Michigan by schools large and small can be divided into the following categories:

1)Birds; 2) Insects; 3) Rodents; 4) Cats; 5) Sheep; 6) Horses; 7) Dogs; 8) Bears; 9) Deer; 0) Fish.
To find the cache coordinates, determine the school mascot and assign it to one of the categories above. In the following lines, determine the school mascot and substitute the numbers matching the categories above to determine the minutes. For example, if Belleville or Houghton Lake are the Eagles, the first digit of the minutes would be 1.

N44 Degrees (Belleville, Houghton Lake) (Holly, North Branch) point (Reed City, Genesee) (Southfield, Bellaire) (Saline, Bridgeman) Minutes

W085 Degrees (Ludington, Engadine) (Mesick, Litchfield) point (Ashley, Highland Park) (Pickford, Alpena) (Algonac, Ann Arbor Huron) Minutes



Saturday was a great day for University of Michigan football. We beat Northwestern 42-20, again mostly in the second half. For some reason, our kids don't get warmed up until half time. This from mgoblue.com:

The No. 9-ranked Michigan football team broke open a close game with touchdowns on its first five possessions of the second half and defeated Northwestern 42-20 on Saturday, Nov. 13, in Michigan Stadium. After U-M led 7-6 at halftime on Michael Hart's 34-yard TD run, Hart added a pair of scoring runs and Chad Henne threw TD passes to Jason Avant and Steve Breaston, who completed the Wolverines scoring with a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown. U-M (9-1, 7-0 Big Ten) is assured of at least a share of the Big Ten title.


And then, for the icing on the cake, State clobbered Wisconsin 49-14. Wisconsin had been previously undefeated. This from msuspartans.com:

The Spartans (5-5, 4-3 Big Ten) handed the Badgers their first loss and knocked Wisconsin (9-1, 6-1) into a second-place tie with Iowa in the Big Ten behind Michigan. The win keeps Michigan State's bowl hopes alive.

We were happy campers Saturday!



Dick worked at the Agency on Monday. He had two face to face appointments, and several phone calls. Wednesday he's making a presentation in Fife Lake about the Medicare Prescription Drug Cards. Busy week for MMAP.

P.S.
The day after I posted Basswood Bend Breakdown, the battery died on our Ford Explorer. What will be next?

Basswood Bend Breakdown

This has been a week of breakdowns. The dishwasher was first, then the wheelbarrow, then the Yardman tractor. Mr. Dishwasher Man came on Thursday, checked it out, and said it was his fault - he made a loose connection the last time he was here. So there was no charge - they should pay me for treating my dishpan hands!

The wheel from the wheelbarrow is at Junior's tire place, and Dick can put that back together. In the meantime, we went to the Tractor Store (ex-Farm and Fleet) and bought a new wheelbarrow with 2 pneumatic tires. It should hold tons and tons of firewood.

The tractor has been delivered to Lark Lawn, and hopefully we'll get it back some day. Our John Deere is still at Classic Motor Sports - they've had it since last June. When we break a tractor, it stays broken.


Laurie reports that for his birthday party, Dylan wants to take his friends to Disney World. That boy has big dreams!

Thursday was Veteran's Day and Dylan had no school. When I was teaching we always had school on Veteran's Day. And when I was a student, we called it Armistice Day. The world keeps changing.

DinoDuo

Today we met DinoDuo (Tim and Sue) for brunch at the Big Boy in Kalkaska. Then we all went caching - did 3 together and then went our separate ways. It was very much fun. Dick and I wound up going to Petoskey - ate an early dinner at J W Filmore's, and got home around 6 p.m. It was a very full day, and most enjoyable. Cool, chilly, damp, penetrating day (temp 38). Time to get out the winter jackets.

Yesterday (Monday) Dick had his annual physical, and he's as healthy as a horse :) Then he worked at the Agency, came home and moved a cartful of firewood. After that, from the living room he spotted a bobcat down on the riverside deck. It was very exciting - we've lived many many years and have never seen a bobcat in the wild. I hope we see him/her again.
http://encarta.msn.com/media_461517331_761568386_-1_1/Bobcat.html

I began the third week of my personal exercise program Monday. In the morning I walked on the treadmill for 10 uninterrupted minutes. It was the first time in a long, long time. Lately, I've been needing to sit and rest after 5 or 6 minutes. It doesn't sound like much, but I have to be encouraged because for me it was a big improvement. This week I walk in the morning, bike (stationary bike) in the afternoon, and walk again in the evening. MWF. Now I'm expecting even more improvement as time goes by. This condition has been in remission since around October 1, and now I am beginning to feel very near normal. Wouldn't it be great if it was permanent? WooWoo!

Also on Monday, our wonderful new Bosch dishwasher broke down AGAIN. I'm expecting the guy from Max's Service to come out on Wednesday to fix it. He last came out on October 15. Really now, are we really going to need service every month from now on? Harrumph.

Sunday we took Mom veggie beef soup, three kinds of apples by way of Tom McLenithan, and fresh library books - she's fine - better than ever! Tom B. came over with a nice print of historic U of M buildings that he found on EBay. Very nice, and very thoughtful!

McLenithan has a trapper setting out traps for beaver - we've lost several trees right next to the perennial garden. Mary B. reports that by their house the beaver is building a bridge for Dylan! Tom B. also set out some traps. I'm not a big fan of traps, but I do like our trees...

Quiet Saturday

Started out at Glen's Market mailing letters and donating bottle receipts to a Unit that has just been re-deployed to Iraq. They're collecting bottle slips in honor of the 3rd boy from the left in the poster picture who lost his life in the first deployment. The money will be used to buy treats and necessities for the Unit.
Chef Ricardo made a huge kettle of veggie beef soup.
A bye week for Michigan. We were really pulling for State, but alas, it was not to be. This from msuspartans.collegefootball.com:

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Ted Ginn had three touchdowns and Ohio State rallied by scoring the last 15 points in a 32-19 victory over Michigan State on Saturday.

We wanted State to win and Wisconsin to lose, and neither one of those things happened.

Retrospective

Well, let's see...it's been a while...Oh yes- the election. Dick walked again Last Sunday distributing literature. Then on Election Day we spent the day at the UAW Hall - we were runners delivering food to the Democratic challenger at Precinct 1, East Bay Twp. Then from 4:30 on, Dick was making calls from the challenger lists reminding people who hadn't voted yet to get to the polls. The atmosphere in the afternoon of Election Day was very positive - we were getting feedback about exit polls across the country and it sounded so good. But as we now know, the exit polls were totally wrong, and Kerry lost.
Wednesday, we really didn't want to watch TV or read any newspapers or listen to the radio, so we loaded the car with CDs and drove over to Houghton Lake to take some pictures, leave a travel bug, and find some caches. It would have driven our kids crazy - John Denver, Mamas and Papas, Kingston Trio, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon - we loved it.
Thursday - Dr. appointment - results from Ann Arbor. Added tenormin 25mg, increased amaryl from 1/day to 2/day. Feeling good - no bleeding.
Saw mother on Wed. and Thurs. - doing just fine.

Football Fan Stress Test

The day started off with Dick walking around town distributing Kerry literature for about 2 1/2 hours. He got some great exercise, and his walking partner was interesting. He's planning on doing it again Sunday and Monday.

We took delivery of a beautiful plant - big yellow mums with a huge blue bow - from Sue and John. Go Blue!

Somewhere around 10 a.m. our power went out. Tom Barker said that all of River Road was out. I worked on catalogs for a while, read my book, and thought about my wet clothes in the dryer. It got very dark and windy outside, and so to see my book better, I tried turning on the light - still no power. It finally came back on around 1 or 1:30. If it hadn't come on, we would have gone to a bar to watch the game.

At 3:30 we settled down to watch the Michigan - Michigan State football game. I wasn't worried too much because we are ranked, and the line was Michigan by 11. Well then the roller coaster ride started. State took complete control of the game. They controlled it for the first 3 quarters. The Michigan team was beaten at every turn. We here at home were beginning to feel like whipped puppies. I watched part of the third quarter with a bag over my head.

In the 4th quarter, with 8 minutes to go, I perked up. It was encouraging, but I still didn't expect to win. However... (this from mgoblue.com):

Braylon Edwards caught three touchdown passes, including the game-winner in the third overtime period, as the No. 12-ranked Michigan football team completed a remarkable comeback and defeated Michigan State 45-37 on Saturday, Oct. 30, in Michigan Stadium. Trailing 27-10 with 8:43 left in regulation, Michigan scored 17 points, with the help of two Edwards TD receptions, to send the game to overtime. The teams traded field goals in the first OT and touchdowns in the second before U-M stopped the Spartans in the third.

Yes that's right - 17 points in the last 8 minutes to tie it up. Overtime? How about 3 overtimes. Yes that's right - Three Overtimes. And MICHIGAN WON!! They actually won. Braylon said later it wasn't so much winning, it was more refusing to lose. We were too exhausted to really celebrate.

Poor Tom out in San Diego called us with 2:28 to go in the 4th quarter - his ABC had switched to the USC-Washington State game, and he wasn't able to see The Game. We talked him through to the end, and what an end it was!

The State quarterback had to leave with a shoulder injury, and that's always sad. But then again, Dowdell is not exactly a back-up quarterback. It reminded me of the game where State broke Jim Harbaugh's arm and went on to win. It's always heart-breaking.

State most likely really deserved to win this game. They played the best they could possibly play for as long as they possibly could. We really didn't play until half way through the 4th quarter. But MICHIGAN WON!! Thank you Braylon. Thank you Chad. This game is one for the books.

Sharon, John, Sue and John really had quite the football experience in our end zone seats! Spartan green and white Sharon sent this great letter. You almost feel like you were there:

Actually, I think we certainly got "your money's worth"! What a game! Although I wish the outcome would have been different (can we have those 5 minutes back in the 4th quarter?). It was an outstanding game to experience. What emotional highs and lows, and certainly from the Spartans side, so many "if only's." I think I am still a little heart broken this morning...but pleased with the way we hung in there even after Stanton went down...at least until 6 minutes to go. Then of course it became the Braylon Edwards show. I happen to be one of those that thinks that, especially after the 2nd overtime, you just say it is a tie because neither team deserved to lose that game. I thought the officiating was very bad (but equally bad to both sides). Both teams certainly left everything on the field. We missed you! It was fun visiting with Susan and John (but not the same without you). Susan's John is trying really hard to make Michigan his 3rd favorite team (but it is still a struggle)! Your friends in the stands were great even to John and I although when the score was 27-10 I think they were ready to blame it on you! I don't think I have ever seen The Big House so quiet for most of the game. The real explosion of noise finally came after the on side kick and then didn't let up until the end. Your friends in the stands encouraged us to "Beat Wisconsin" for them. I hope we can! I hope the Spartans can regroup since we have Ohio State next weekend and Stanton is expected to be out 2 to 3 weeks at least. I think Michigan is glad they have a bye week to recover. John and Susan parked by Molly's dorm and I think they were fine getting back to their car. Because I remembered when we went to the games with you how crazy the traffic patterns are after the games (one way streets, etc), and not being too familiar with the streets in Ann Arbor, John and I parked at Briarwood (Kensington Hotel) and took the bus shuttle in. It was great for us. Especially since (except for the few people that left when the score got the 27-10) everyone stayed for the whole game. What a mob scene leaving the stadium! We didn't have to wait more that 5 minutes for a bus and then we got right on 94 west at State Street. The line on State Street going to 94 east was very long. Susan and I thought a lot about you both during the game. We kept saying "D & N aren't happy right now" then Susan would say "her Mom and Dad must be very anxious now", etc. You certainly were missed, but your Go Blue vibes came through in the end. I think people will remember this game for a long time. Thanks so much for letting us experience it first hand!